Originally Posted by
Darryl Morris
I want to open for discussion something that I have been contemplating for about a year now. This all started after a lengthy discussion in a public forum with Arkansas Game and Fish about putting a 10" length limit one of the local state park lakes. They did so to increase the population of this popular crappie lake. Here goes, the setting and numbers I am using are for a fertile lake in the mid to lower latitudes. Of course, the same applies to the northern part of the US, just in smaller fish due to a shorter growing season. --
1. Crappie under 9" are immature and have little or no impact on a spawn.
2. A 9-10" female crappie in a fertile lake or reservoir is approximately 2-3 years old and will lay approximately 10,000 eggs.
3. A 14-16" female crappie is fully mature and reaching the end of life-expectancy and can lay as many as 200,000 eggs during a single spawn.
4. It is the male crappie that make and protect the bed until the hatch reach fry stage and leave the bed, then they do it again and again until the spawn is over.
Which do you feel would better increase and maintain an ample crappie population:
1. A length limit of 10" like what is most commonly set by Game and Fish departments
2. A slot restriction of 12"-16" crappie must be returned during the spawn only - no restrictions after the spawn
3. Restrict male crappie to catch and release during the spawn.
4. other.
A 10 inch limit would protect more fish for spawning than a slot limit of 12-16 inches. Realistically, whose going to throw back a 15 7/8 inch crappie. It would be too much trouble to tell the differance between male and female crappie. My choice would be a creel limit set for each lake depending on the previous years hatches.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day.